Monthly Archives: August 2014

Frank Robinson holds the distinction of being baseball’s first African-American manager.

After being considered as a managerial candidate for several years, Robinson was finally given the chance to manage a squad in 1975.

In total, Robinson managed four different teams over a 16-year span. Compiling a win-loss record of 1,065-1,176, Robinson was hardly put in a place to win. The teams he managed? The Indians, Giants, Orioles, and Nationals – not actually threats to any pennants…

On September 13, 1971, Frank Robinson connected for the 500th home run of his amazing baseball career!!!

At home and sitting in first place in the American League East division, the Orioles were hosting the Detroit Tigers. Robinson entered the game with 499 home runs on his resume and was looking to make history in front of the fans at Memorial Stadium.

And he delivered…

He made the faithful Oriole fans wait until the bottom of the 9th inning, but he crushed a 2-run homer for #500. The shot came off of Tigers pitcher Fred Scherman and the crowd erupted in applause for Robinson even though his team trailed the Tigers by 5 runs and eventually lost the game by a score of 10-5.

I enjoy watching a player chase a milestone that will help solidify their career. Most recently, it was Derek Jeter.

But with Frank Robinson’s career, I wonder if there was an official ‘count down to 3,000’.

Amazingly talented at the plate, Robinson finished his career with 2,943 hits – 57 shy of 3,000. Had he collected just 3 more hits in each season he played in 3,000 would have been surpassed. Had he played in just 2-3 more games in each season of his prime, it is very likely that 3,000 would have been surpassed.

Robinson joins a long list of baseball legends that just fell short of reaching a specific baseball milestone. Still, it does very little to tarnish his tremendous career.

The Triple Crown is quite possibly baseball’s greatest offensive accomplishment. And rare too – it has now been more than 40 years since the last time a player accomplished this feat.

And of the very few players that have reached these heights, my favorite is Frank Robinson. Traded in the offseason between the 1965 and 1966 seasons, Robinson was off to Baltimore to help the Orioles.

Any player, in the right circumstance, can be a contender for the MVP award.

But it is the highly skilled player that can be a challenger for the award on an annual basis that separates himself from the pack.

Over the course of his 21-year career, 20 of which were full-time, Robinson finished in the Top 10 for the MVP award nine times. Truly ahead of 99% of his peers, Robinson was able to do it in both leagues as well.

Ultimately, he won the award twice, once in 1961 with the Reds and then again in 1966 with the Orioles. As a matter of fact, Frank Robinson was the first player in major league history to win the MVP Award in both leagues.

I am not sure how the voting for the Gold Glove Award was handled back during Robinson’s era, but for today’s game, there seems to be quiet a bit of political play occurring.

For the most part, today the award is hardly given to the league’s best defenders. Instead, it seems like the award is used to keep stars in the spotlight.

Frank Robinson won his only Gold Glove Award in 1958. In 138 games that year, Robinson spent time in left field, center field, and even third base. In total, he committed just five errors while amassing a fielding percentage of .991.

The other two National League winners from the outfield in 1958? Hank Aaron & Willie Mays. Solid company right there!!!